Yesterday I was lucky enough to visit the “Victorian and Albert, Art and Love” at the Queens gallery in Buckingham Palace. The exhibition, which is all about Victoria and Alberts gifts to one another and their enthusiasm for art, was completely amazing and bowled me over.
Of course, for someone like me, who writes Victorian fiction, it was always going to be a winner. But this exhibition is very special, not only because it has so many exquisite items on display, but because all of the items were purchased by Victoria and Albert as gifts. It is in essence a display of their love for each other.
It was also fantastic to see so many Victorian items on display: paintings, sculpture, jewellery, a dress, porcelain, caskets, jugs, a piano, an ivory throne, interior designs, furniture and photographs.
The royal couple would have an annual budget of £2,000 to spend on art. Of course, 150 years ago that was rather a lot of money. However, they didn’t always get to buy everything they wanted - some items of art could be priced as high as £9,000. They would give each other gifts of art often as a surprise in order to delight the other, and there was often sentimental items based around their children.
What was most interesting was that not only were the couple art buyers, they were also artists themselves and some of the items on display were their own design or work including music compositions, ornaments and paintings. The couple were also credited with helping making early photography popular, as they very much enjoyed this form of art.
If you can get to London, this exhibition is well worth a visit. The staff at the museum are really helpful and nice too ;0)
Jenna
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